Daisy Giordano is the only one in her family without psychic powers. This normally doesn’t bother her that much, but there’s something irritating about how Daisy’s mom enlists Daisy’s older sister Rose’s help in solving a teenage girl’s recent death because there’s nothing Daisy can do to aid her mother—Daisy can’t provide the psychic support her mother needs. But that won’t stop Daisy from investigating, especially when strange and unexplainable illnesses strike several girls at her own school. Plus, the head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux’s new look is enough to arouse some suspicion; her style has taken goth to its extreme. Now, it’s only a matter of making it onto the cheer squad and convincing her friend Ryan to help her to further this investigation and crack the case, although a little romance or some psychic abilities would be helpful as well.

Interesting and fun, this paranormal mystery is a quick and enjoyable read. Dead is the New Black delves into only some of the secrets of Daisy’s hometown, Nightshade, primarily its supernatural side or psychics, vampires, and werewolves galore. This provides for a unique mystery that mostly kept me guessing. I like how Perez smoothly integrates the supernatural with everyday life as it makes the story seem more plausible and provided for quite a bit of amusing entertainment. I can’t say that anything about this novel is particularly excellent, but it is satisfactory. The characters are realistic with only the smallest inconsistencies, but lack of development in the minor characters is disappointing. It would also have been nice to have more background information about Daisy’s life and the town of Nightshade, because while several past details are mentioned, they aren’t elaborated on; the only way this would work for this story is if newly uncovered secrets are incorporated in later novels. Fast and humorous, Dead is the New Black is a cutesy and innocent paranormal read.

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2013

October:67. The Color of Rain (Cori McCarthy)

September:66. The Fifth Wave (Rick Yancey)65. United We Spy (Ally Carter)64. Out of Sight, Out of Time (Ally Carter)63. Only the Good Spy Young (Ally Carter)62. Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Ally Carter)61. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Ally Carter60. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Ally Carter)59. Also Known As (Robin Benway)58. Not a Drop to Drink (Mindy McGinnis)57. The Waking Dark (Robin Wasserman)

THE BOOK MUNCHER is the reviewing alias of a prolific reader. She is guilty of several overflowing bookshelves in several states. Her literary diet is mostly dedicated to the young adult fiction genre but has been known to occasionally stray into middle grade or adult categories. She is a firm believer that reading and literacy are as essential to modern life as physical sustenance, that fiction is often truer than nonfiction, and that stories and words have the power to change the world.